The use of shields with gutters or eavestrough is well known in the prior art and there have been many proposals for different types of shields. The purpose of the shields is essentially to permit passage of rain water from the roof to the eavestrough while protecting the eavestrough from extraneous foreign matters such as leaves and the like.
To date, there have been several approaches taken. A first approach utilizes a shield or a guard which is apertured and permits the passage of rain water while extensively barring the passage of extraneous material. However, many of these guards do not function as desired as some foreign matter still enters and access must still be had to the eavestrough for cleaning purposes.
The proposals in the prior art have led to relatively complex structures including ones wherein eavestroughs are mounted for rotatable movement such that they may be emptied at desired intervals.
There have also been proposals in the art for gutters and eavestroughs which have a design wherein a cover has an outer edge which curls downwardly and the water flow follows a curved portion due to surface tension and thereafter cascades into the eavestrough. While this design functions under certain circumstances, when the volume of water becomes sufficiently large, the surface tension is not sufficient to cause all the water to flow into the gutter.
A further problem which is encountered is that though the eavestrough is supposed to sit against the facia of the building structure and prevent leakage between the eavestrough and facia due to a drip edge on the edge of the roof, some leaks still do occur. These leaks can cause some ground erosion and can also be inconvenient wherein a structure is below which needs to be protected from the rain.